Saint Patrick is Ireland's patron
saint. Starting as a religious holiday honoured on March 17th in Ireland, Saint
Patrick's Day as a true celebration came to be in the United States in the 18th
century. At first, it spread to other countries with high percentage of
Irish immigration, and now it is slowly taking over the world. People are
captivated by the happy-go-lucky nature of this holiday, saturated with the
colour green, shamrocks and cute and greedy little leprechauns.

Here are five fun ways to celebrate
St. Patrick's day in your classroom.

Tradition #1: Green everything

Green colour traditionally dominates
the St. Patrick's Day. Encourage your students to wear green clothes, and bring
some green snacks such as green apples, kale chips or cabbage. Green foods are
nutrient-dense and useful to our bodies, and this is the perfect opportunity to
make them fun to eat.

Tradition #2: Meet the leprechauns

Leprechauns are charming bearded
fairies. They are famous for hiding their pots of gold from the rest of the
world. Get to know them. Read stories about them in class, and create maps to
find their precious gold. Golden chocolate coins will do just fine for this
purpose.

Tradition #3: Shamrocks

According to a legend, St. Patrick
used a three-leafed shamrock to explain the Holy Trinity to the Irish. Although
there is no actual proof that he indeed practised this, both three and
four-leafed shamrocks are the symbols of St. Patrick's.

At the very beginning of March, plant
some clover seeds in suitable pots and keep them in a warm and light spot.
Hopefully, they will sprout and grow just in time for the holiday. If you have
a clover patch somewhere in the school's yard, you can take the younger kids
out for the ever-exciting lucky 4-leafed clover hunt.

Tradition #4: Irish folk music

You can spice up all your activities
by playing Irish music. The fairy-tale-like melodies will add value to every
activity, deepening the connection with the original Irish roots of the St.
Patrick's Day.

Tradition #5: The Parade

All of the formerly described
activities can be incorporated into the great finale - your group's very own
St. Patrick's Day parade. These parades are one of the most famous hallmarks of
the American St. Patrick's day, and especially those held in Boston - and you
can make your own classroom version. With everybody dressed in green, special
snacks, shamrocks and incredible music, you can try out traditional Irish
dances and - have fun. For some extra fun why not create your own craft decorations to add some children's creativity to the parade!

What could be a better way to learn
about women's fight for rights, as well as for a better world, than learning by
example? During this Women's History Month, let's explore some notable female leaders.

Michelle Bachelet

Verónica Michelle Bachelet Jeria
(1951) is the first woman president of Chile, holding her second mandate as of
2014. Priorly she was the Minister for Health and the Minister of Defence, and
in the UN she held the chair of the executive director of the United Nations
Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women).

Michelle Bachelet is highly educated -
a physician with additional studies in military strategy, and she speaks five
languages. She is also a mother of three children.What makes her story even
more remarkable is the fact that she had a difficult childhood - her father
died, and she and her mother were imprisoned and tortured during the Augusto
Pinochet's dictatorship. Her story conveys a strong message about one
contemporary woman's fight for life, dignity and education, which eventually
made her the leader of her nation.

Benazir Bhutto

Benazir Bhutto (1953 – 2007) was a
Prime Minister of Pakistan from 1988 to 1990, again from 1993 to 1996. She was the first woman to
lead a government in a Muslim nation, which is even more fascinating given that
she was a liberal and a secularist.

Pakistan's Islamists condemned her for
her secularity and modernisation policies. On the other hand, she was very popular
in Pakistan as well as in the West, where she was applauded for championing
democracy and women's rights in an extremely conservative environment.
Unfortunately, Bhutto was assassinated in 2007. Her murder was never fully
clarified.

Catherine the Great

Catherine the Great (1729 – 1796) was
the most famous female ruler in Russian history, and one of the most famous
European rulers of her time. She was the embodiment of the enlightened
aristocracy.

Born as Princess Sophie of
Anhalt-Zerbst in Prussia, she came to power when her husband Peter III, was
assassinated. Under her reign, Russia became larger and stronger and got its
place among Europe's most influential nations. As a notable supporter of the
Enlightenment, Catherine the Great is also remembered as an extraordinary
benefactor of arts, culture and education. Catherinian Era was also marked by
lavish nobility masons and luxury architecture.

Cleopatra

There is probably no woman ruler that
evokes more sense of mystery and archetypal power than Cleopatra. Cleopatra was
the last ruler Ptolemaic Kingdom of Egypt. Not long after her rule ended, Egypt
became a province of a new empire - the Roman Empire. Even today she is
celebrated for her beauty, intelligence, and leadership.

In modern pop culture, Cleopatra is
often shown as a beauty by today's standards; but Cleopatra had a big nose,
sharp chin, and she was rather short. However, this is a perfect paradox to be
discussed in your class.While women today are being indoctrinated by artificial
beauty standards, Cleopatra's case proves that real beauty is made of traits
more important than body proportions and facial features. In his famous quote,
among other things, Plutarch described her as someone who had "an
irresistible charm".

Ellen Johnson Sirleaf

Another groundbreaking contemporary
female leader, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf was the President of Liberia from 2006 to
2018, and the first elected woman president of an African country.

Despite her relatively humble origins,
Ellen Johnson Sirleaf managed to become very educated, receiving her degrees
from University of Boulder and Harvard. She became a president at a very
delicate moment, two years after the end of the bloody Liberian civil war.
Nevertheless, during her presidency, she managed to stabilise and completely
change the face of her country. In 2011, she earned the Nobel Peace Prize for
promoting women’s rights, but also for her overall achievements in
reconstructing a war-torn country.